High Commissioner of Kenya Professor Julius K Bitok has said a new strategy has been evolved to enhance Pakistan-Kenya bilateral trade. He stated this in a meeting with President of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ijaz Mumtaz here on Wednesday. LCCI Vice President Syed Mahmood Ghaznavi said on the occasion that legal and financial systems of Kenya are very strong and reliable. He urged the Pakistani businessmen to enter into joint ventures with their Kenyan counterparts in various fields.
He said, "Both Kenya and Pakistan need to concentrate on available opportunities as the Kenyan government has made special arrangements with the regional countries for the free movement of goods and once any businessperson joins any venture with Kenyan counterpart, person will have access to other regional countries as well."
He also called for exchange of trade delegation between the two countries on reciprocal basis. LCCI President Mumtaz in his speech said, "Kenya is an import member state of Africa. Since Kenya is a developing country, so strengthening of mutual relations with emerging countries like Pakistan can be beneficial for the both countries." He further said, "Pakistan and Kenya are steady trading partners. Among the top export and import destinations of Pakistan, Kenya comes at 17th and 29th places respectively. However, Pakistan has remained one of the top 10 trading partners of Kenya. It is good to see that the bilateral trade is gradually growing with every passing year. From 2012 to 2014, Pakistan exports have increased from $210 million to $333 million. Similarly, the imports from Kenya swelled from $235 million to $268 million in last three years. The interesting factor in bilateral trade is that out of total exports from Pakistan to Kenya almost 80 percent consist of rice. Likewise, coffee and tea comprise 87 percent in the total imports from Kenya."
"We need to diversify the variety of products for increasing the volume of bilateral trade. Pakistan can export wide range of textile items, pharmaceuticals products, leather goods, articles of plastic, chemicals, technical and medical apparatus etc to Kenya. He said that both countries should also collaborate for knowledge sharing in the fields of education, agriculture and tourism.
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